“My grandmother sent you our way, cousin. Why join the war when you would be safer at the old castle?” Alois asked unexpectedly. Alyssa glanced at him and found herself staring right into his eyes. It unsettled her enough that it took a moment for her to find her voice.
“I was young when the previous war ended, but I lived with the loss and destruction caused by those who oppose you now, your majesty. They took our lands, burned our crops, gutted our houses, destroyed our towns, displaced our people, killed my brothers, and took everything they could lay their hands on,” Alyssa said coldly, drawing from the truth.
“Unlike El Faeryn, Norldict fell. We did not have the manpower to protect ourselves, and there was nothing left to rebuild, your majesty.”
Tatiana’s castle’s supply route t
